The present invention relates generally to extruded molding pieces attachable to a wall to form a frame assembly thereon for the purpose of supporting a fabric covering sheet.
A number of systems and apparatus for supporting a fabric sheet on a surface, such as a wall, are known. Generally, known systems provide a number of extruded pieces which together form a frame mounted on a wall. The fabric sheet to be mounted on the frame then has its edges securely supported by the frame assembly formed by the extruded pieces.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,631,882 and 4,788,806 to Sease disclose such systems wherein two separate pieces are used together to secure the fabric in place. U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,960, also to Sease, discloses another such extrusion wherein the edges of the fabric are simply held between gripping teeth formed on portions of an extruded piece. Small spaces are provided for storing the leftover edge of the fabric being supported.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,018,260, 4,053,008, 4,151,672 and 4,161,977, all to Baslow, are related to frame assemblies for mounting fabric sheets. Baslow uses extruded members which provide a storage space in the extruded member for fabric, along with gripping teeth, but require the use of a spline to sufficiently support the fabric being stretched on a particular frame assembly. The patent to Baslow U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,977 simply uses gripper teeth and a small storage space in a solid member for supporting a fabric sheet. There also exist U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,197,686 and 4,625,490, both also to Baslow, which disclose the use of extruded pieces forming a storage space between walls of the extruded pieces. The fabric is tucked into the storage space formed by the extruded piece by the use of an appropriate stuffing tool.
FIG. 1 discloses a further known extrusion. The extrusion of FIG. 1 is used in frame assemblies for fabric wall coverings for the purpose of providing a mid-wall support inside a frame assembly. This extrusion, noting FIG. 1, comprises a base wall 1 having upstanding walls 2 and 3 extending therefrom. The walls 2 and 3 form a cavity or space therebetween for the insertion of fabric material. The walls neck together to form an inlet at 4, whereat is provided a number of gripping teeth for gripping a fabric inserted therein. Two wall portions 5 flare outwardly from the inlet 4.
The extrusion illustrated in FIG. 1 suffers generally from the drawbacks of insufficient size and strength, and an insufficiently sized cavity C for the amount of fabric which may be required to be stuffed into the cavity C. This renders the extrusion with little versatility and adaptability. In many of today's applications, patterns of a fabric to be secured to a wall have repeating vertical patterns, which repeat every so often in the horizontal direction. At the mid-wall seam portion, it is desirable to match the particular position of the pattern of one fabric with the particular position of the pattern of the other fabric adjacent thereto. To do this, one or the other fabric may require significant lateral adjustment. Thus, a substantially large cavity C may be required.
In response to the above problems of the prior art, the inventors of the present application in parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/660,232 proposed a molding strip 20 for use in attaching fabrics to a wall W. FIG. 4 illustrates how a fabric F is placed on the wall W. A number of the molding strips 20 are attached to the wall W so as to form a frame defining the area desired to be covered by the fabric material F. As seen in the figure, four outside molding strips 20 may form a rectangular configuration, with a fifth molding strip 20 forming a midwall-seam portion. The fabric F is then stretched across the area defined by the frame assembly, and the edges thereof are held by the respective molding strips 20. One continuous fabric sheet F may be used, with a central portion thereof tucked into the mid-wall seam portion 20, or two separate fabric portions F could be used.
An insulating material is preferably placed between the fabric F and the wall W within the area of the frame assembly. Such material will provide a backing for the fabric sheet F, as well as providing an insulating material for the purpose of absorbing sound in a room. Further, note that the molding strips 20 may be attached to the wall W preferably by simply stapling the molding strips 20 to the wall, or by the use of any other suitable method.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show a cross-sectonal view and a perspective view, respectively, of the molding strip 20 according to U.S. Ser. No. 07/660,232. The molding strip 20 has a base or base portion 21. The base portion 21 is substantially flat and elongated, as seen in FIG. 3. A back side of the base portion 21 is placed against the wall or other surface to which the molding strip 20 is to be attached. The front side of the base portion 21 has two walls 22 and 23 extending outwardly therefrom.
Preferably, the walls 22 and 23 extend substantially perpendicularly to the base portion 21, but the angle of the walls 22 and 23 relative to the base portion 21 may vary somewhat from the perpendicular without substantially affecting the nature and operation of the present invention. At their upper ends, as seen in FIG. 4, each wall 22 and 23 has a respective mutually confronting portion 24 and 25. Connecting the confronting portion 24 of the wall member 22 to a main wall portion 26 of wall member 22 is a shoulder portion 27. The main portion 26 and wall member 23 are spaced from each other so as to form a space or cavity c therebetween. The shoulder 27 serves to close off the cavity C, and the respective confronting portions 24 and 25 serve to define an inlet into the cavity C.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, wall members 22 and 23 extend parallel to first and second side edges of the base portion 21 in the longitudinal direction of the base portion 21, covering its entire extent. In addition, a gripping arrangement is provided between the confronting portions 24 and 25 for the purpose of gripping a fabric sheet or material inserted into the inlet defined between the confronting portions. Preferably the gripping arrangement is a plurality of gripper teeth provided on both of the confronting portions. Furthermore, the height of the wall members 22 and 23 in the direction perpendicular to the base portion 21 is preferably the same.
Thus, when a fabric sheet or material F is secured to a molding strip, the fabric sheet or material is tucked into the inlet between confronting portions 24 and 25. This operation is usually carried out by overlaying the fabric on the inlet and using a thin elongated tool to push the fabric between the confronting portions 24 and 25 into the cavity C. The fabric material is then stored inside the cavity C. When a fabric material F has a particular pattern thereon, and several panels of the type illustrated in FIG. 4 are placed adjacent each other, it will be necessary to horizontally adjust a particular fabric material so that the patterns on adjacent sheets will match. For this purpose, the molding strips 20 making up the frame of a particular fabric sheet or material F must have a cavity C of a sufficiently large size so that the fabric sheet can be horizontally adjusted. That is, the cavity must be large enough so that a fabric sheet F can be relatively freely adjusted in the horizontal direction without worrying about the cavity C not having space enough for all the material that may be required to be stuffed therein.
In a preferred feature of the extrusion 20, with reference to FIG. 2, the distance from a line passing between the confronting portions 24 and 25, whereat is provided the gripper arrangement, extending substantially perpendicularly to the base portion 21, to the first side edge of the base portion 21 is equal to the height of the wall member 22 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the base portion 21. In FIG. 2, these distances are represented by A and B, wherein A=B. As noted above, the height of wall members 22 and 23 is preferably the same. Thus the distance B will also be the height of wall member 23, preferably. This relationship renders the molding strip 20 particularly advantageous to an installer of fabric material wall assemblies. Noting FIG. 5, there is illustrated one molding strip 20 which is used to form an inside corner junction. Two adjacent walls W each are to be provided with a frame assembly for securing a fabric thereto. By providing molding strip 20 at least on the one side thereof toward the first edge of the base portion 21 with a dimension equal to the height of the molding strip 20, the molding strip 20 can be put in position at the corner intersection of the walls W without requiring the installer to measure the correct distance away from the adjacent wall for the positioning of the molding strip 20. That is, the molding strip 20 is merely placed against a wall W with its first side edge substantially abutting the adjacent wall W, and the molding strip 20 is properly positioned with regard to the fabric height on both the walls W, whether a one-half inch or a one inch fabric panel is desired, as seen in FIG. 5.
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a molding strip 20 wherein one side portion of the base portion 21 has been cut off at position 28. This is done to provide single extrusion that can be worked in the field to create edge details. In FIG. 6, for example, a prewrap portion F, of a fabric sheet or material is pre-wrapped around the side of the molding strip 20 at which the edge of the molding strip 20 has been cut off in order to provide a particular fabric panel edge detail at an outside wall corner. The strip of pre-wrapped fabric material F, is adhesively applied to the molding strip before attaching the molding strip 20 in place.